Free Web NovelChapter 488: Chapter 488
The moment Caleb Summers spoke, everyone in the living room froze.
Melody Summers blinked, thinking she must have misheard him. ’Am I hearing things?’
Caleb Summers wanted her to transfer her apartment to Howard Fletcher?
’Did he drink some bootleg liquor? He’s spouting complete nonsense!’
While everyone was still stunned into silence, Caleb Summers pulled a document from his briefcase. He smiled and said, "Mom, Grace, this is a property transfer agreement I had my lawyer draft. See if there are any issues. If it all looks good, go ahead and sign it."
Grace Sutton didn’t take the document. She stared at Caleb Summers as if he were a complete idiot. In a shocked voice, she said, "...Caleb, I think you’ve lost your mind. Do you even hear yourself right now?"
Melody Summers set down the vase she was holding. She stepped forward to stop her grandmother, who looked ready to explode. Then, with a calm expression, she took the document from Caleb and flipped through it with amusement. The more she read, the more she wanted to laugh.
Caleb Summers frowned, displeased. "You’re just a kid. What are you sticking your nose in for? Stop making a scene and give that back to me!"
Melody looked up and dangled the document at him, a smirk playing on her lips. "You want apartment 4-1606? Problem is, it’s in my name. So if there’s any signing to be done, I’m the one who has to do it."
Caleb froze. He never imagined the apartment would be in Melody’s name.
Seeing the serious look on Melody’s face, Caleb frowned. "You’re a girl. You’ll get married and move out eventually. Keeping a property in your name just means you’ll be handing it over to some other family! So this is perfect. Just sign the house over to Leo right now."
Melody almost laughed out loud at Caleb’s shamelessness. She slowly folded the transfer agreement in half and said mockingly, "I bought this house with my own money. Why on earth should I transfer it to a total stranger? What kind of daydream are you two having?"
’Caleb must’ve gotten his head kicked by a donkey,’ Melody thought. ’How else could he say something so utterly shameless?’
But then she reconsidered. ’He wasn’t entirely wrong. Didn’t Mindy Walsh buy a house that ended up going straight to him?’
’Those words pretty much laid out his entire life philosophy as a gold digger...’
As expected, Caleb just snorted. With a look of disdain, he said, "You bought it with your money? You haven’t had a job since you graduated. All you do is stay at home and leech off your family. Where would you get the money to buy a house?"
"Alright, cut the crap. I don’t care who bought the house. Since it’s in your name, just hurry up and sign the agreement. Maybe then Howard Fletcher will still acknowledge you as his older sister in the future."
Melody snorted back. "That’s hilarious. So now any random stray can be my little brother? I have no need for a brother I didn’t ask for. You can both go back to where you came from!"
As she spoke, Melody glanced at Howard Fletcher. The boy was glaring at her, his eyes filled with a sinister fury that was unnerving for his age. The venom in his gaze was a stark contrast to his innocent-looking face, and it made Melody deeply uncomfortable.
Grace Sutton had been holding back, but she couldn’t contain her rage any longer. She snatched the "Property Transfer Agreement" from Melody’s hand and ripped it to shreds!
She threw the shredded paper at Caleb and shouted, "Caleb Summers, have you no shame, trying to steal a house from your own niece?! Get the hell out of here right now, and take your wife and son with you!"
When Caleb saw the agreement he had paid to have drafted torn to pieces, he grew frantic. While scrambling to pick up the scraps, he retorted, "I’m doing this to save this family! Don’t you all forget how my mother-in-law’s family died!"
His words came out of nowhere, and Grace Sutton was completely baffled. She asked in confusion, "...What do you mean by that? What does your mother-in-law’s family’s death have to do with us?"
’Don’t tell me we killed Caleb’s mother-in-law’s family?’
’How utterly absurd!’
Caleb frowned at Grace Sutton and answered in a low, stern voice, "How can you say it has nothing to do with you? If you hadn’t refused to take them in, they wouldn’t have died!"
Melody’s jaw nearly hit the floor.
’Is Caleb trying to say that we caused the deaths of Zoe Kane’s family?’
’Now that’s what I call a heavy load of blame to dump on someone!’
Caleb stared at Grace Sutton as if he were a cop interrogating a murderer. As she looked back in astonishment, he continued, "Grace, you’re a reasonable person. You should know that if you all hadn’t refused to lend a helping hand back then, my mother-in-law’s family wouldn’t have died, and this child, Howard Fletcher, wouldn’t have become an orphan!"
"If you transfer the house to Howard Fletcher now, it will both compensate him and serve as atonement for your past actions! I’m doing all of this for the good of the family! Why can’t any of you understand my good intentions!"
The moment Caleb finished speaking, Grace Sutton spat right in his face—
"Pah!" Grace’s face was contorted with fury. With her hands on her hips, she pointed at Caleb’s nose and cursed, "Caleb Summers, what kind of bullshit are you spouting! What in the world does your mother-in-law’s family’s death have to do with us? Why didn’t you take them in yourself back then!"
If Caleb had really cared about Zoe Kane’s family, he could have just let them live with him. He was the one who sent them to rent an apartment in The Metropolis Residences. Now that they were dead, he was running back here demanding compensation for the boy. What kind of twisted logic was that?
Caleb wiped the spit from his face, his embarrassment turning to rage. "Grace, how can you be so cold-blooded? Don’t tell me... Don’t tell me that just because your own parents are dead, you can’t stand to see my wife have a family of her own!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, a sharp SMACK! echoed through the room. Grandma had stepped forward and slapped him hard across the face!
Caleb touched his stinging cheek in disbelief as he heard his mother’s furious voice. "You bastard! Who taught you to say such vile things!"
"You were the one who disowned this family back then. Forget the house—not a single penny in this family has anything to do with you! Now get out!"
Zoe Kane, who had been standing silently to the side, heard her mother-in-law and quickly stepped forward to smooth things over. "Mom, don’t be angry..."
But before she could finish, Grandma cut her off.
Grandma waved her hand dismissively at Zoe Kane. "That’s enough. Don’t call me ’Mom.’ I’ll be blunt. Your family’s death has nothing to do with us, and there’s no way you’re getting the house. Now, all of you, leave!"
Caleb’s face turned hideous. He slammed the shredded agreement in his hand onto the floor and said coldly, "Mom, how could you say that? Don’t forget, my last name is Summers, too. No matter what, I deserve a share of this family’s assets! You have to give me a house!"
